Highland Marketing welcomes chair and new members to its advisory board

Experienced industry advisor Jeremy Nettle, popular digital advocate Andy Kinnear, and leading CIO Cindy Fedell to advise agency and its clients on the effective promotion of health tech

Highland Marketing has revitalised its advisory board of respected health tech professionals with the election of a chair and the appointment of two new members.

Jeremy Nettle, a past chair of the techUK healthcare group and former European director for Oracle Corporation Healthcare, has become chair.

Andy Kinnear, chair of the health and care executive at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and director of digital transformation at NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit, and Cindy Fedell, chief digital and information officer at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, have both joined the expanded group.

Jeremy Nettle said: “The advisory board exists to provide informed guidance to Highland Marketing and its clients, so they can better understand the UK health tech market and devise more effective strategies for engaging with it.

“The group also provides a platform for selected senior leaders to come together to share experience on policy, best practice, innovation, and benefits, and to network with like-minded individuals. I am very much looking forward to chairing the group as it develops over the coming year.”

Highland Marketing was founded 17 years ago by Susan Venables and Mark Venables and has developed an unrivalled reputation as a communications, marketing and PR agency for health tech companies and NHS organisations.

The advisory board members are a core part of its team. Andy Kinnear said: “I think the key to driving success in digital health and care is for like-minded individuals to get together and solve problems.

“I see this as a fabulous opportunity to join a group of people with a similar mindset on digital health and care to share ideas, network and support others looking to make a real difference to the NHS, the people who work in it, and to patients.

“I am looking forward to finding out more about what other members of the group are doing, and I am sure good stuff will come out of it.”

Cindy Fedell also welcomed the opportunity to discuss the effective adoption of healthcare IT.

“There are a lot of myths about healthcare IT, and a lot of hype,” she said.

“I hope the advisory group will help to dispel some of the myths, but also provide a forum for discussion that goes beyond the hype; and gets into what really needs to be done to support digital maturity in the NHS.”

The advisory board is expected to meet quarterly at Highland Marketing’s new London offices and at other venues around the UK. Members will also be available to provide advice to the agency and its clients when required.

Highland Marketing’s chief executive, Mark Venables, said: “We have always valued the input we receive from our advisory board and know that our clients do the same. That is why we have decided to expand the group and to develop a more ambitious programme of outputs from it.

“Like Jeremy, Andy and Cindy, we very much look forward to seeing its influence grow over the coming year, as the health and care system looks for technology that can help it to adapt to the growing pressures it faces and to the needs of new, digitally minded generations. And with the recent publication of the NHS Long Term Plan, health tech will have an even more significant role to play.”